Development Service Organization Organizational Philosophy

Development

Narcotics Anonymous sprang from the

Alcoholics Anonymous Program of the late 1940s,

with NA meetings first emerging in the Los Angeles

area of California, USA, in the early 1950s. The NA

program started as a small US organization that has

grown into one of the world¡¯s oldest and largest international organizations of its type. For many years,

NA grew very slowly, spreading from Los Angeles

to other major North American cities and Australia

in the early 1970s. Within a few years, groups had

formed in Brazil, Colombia, Germany, India, Ireland,

Japan, New Zealand, and Great Britain. In 1983,

Narcotics Anonymous published its self-titled Basic

Text book, which contributed to NA¡¯s tremendous

growth; by year¡¯s end, NA had grown to have a presence in more than a dozen countries and had 2,966

meetings worldwide.

Today, Narcotics Anonymous is well established

throughout much of North and South America,

Europe, Australia, the Middle East, New Zealand,

and Russia. Groups and NA communities continue

to grow and evolve throughout the Indian subcontinent, Africa, and Asia. Today the organization

is truly a worldwide multilingual, multicultural fellowship with more than 63,000 weekly meetings

in 132 countries. Narcotics Anonymous books and

information pamphlets are currently available in

45 languages, with translations in process for 16

languages.*

Program

NA¡¯s earliest self-titled pamphlet, known among

members as ¡°The White Booklet,¡± describes Narcotics

Anonymous this way:

¡°NA is a nonprofit fellowship or society of men and

women for whom drugs had become a major

problem. We ¡­ meet regularly to help each other

stay clean. ... We are not interested in what or how

much you used ... but only in what you want to do

about your problem and how we can help.¡±

*As of May 2014

Membership is open to all drug addicts, regardless of the particular drug or combination of drugs

used. When adapting AA¡¯s First Step, the word ¡°addiction¡± was substituted for ¡°alcohol,¡± thus removing

drug-specific language and reflecting the ¡°disease

concept¡± of addiction. Narcotics Anonymous provides a recovery process and peer support network

that are linked together. One of the keys to NA¡¯s

success is the therapeutic value of addicts working

with other addicts. Members share their successes

and challenges in overcoming active addiction

and living drug-free, productive lives through the

application of the principles contained within the

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of NA. These

principles are the core of the Narcotics Anonymous

recovery program. Narcotics Anonymous itself is a

non-religious program of recovery; each member is

encouraged to cultivate an individual understanding¡ªreligious or not¡ªof the spiritual principles

and apply these principles to everyday life.

There are no social, religious, economic, racial,

ethnic, national, gender, or class-status membership

restrictions. There are no dues or fees for membership; most members regularly contribute in meetings to help cover the expenses incurred for the

rent of facility space.

Narcotics Anonymous is not affiliated with other

organizations, including other twelve step programs, treatment centers, or correctional facilities.

As an organization, NA does not employ professional counselors or therapists nor does it provide

residential facilities or clinics. Additionally, the fellowship does not offer vocational, legal, financial,

psychiatric, or medical services. NA has only one

mission: to provide an environment in which addicts can help one another stop using drugs and

find a new way to live.

In Narcotics Anonymous, membership is based

on a desire to stop using drugs including alcohol

and has as a foundation, the principle of complete

abstinence. It has been the experience of NA members that complete and continuous abstinence

provides the best foundation for recovery and

personal growth. NA as a whole has no opinion on

outside issues, including prescribed medications.

Use of psychiatric medication and other medically

indicated drugs prescribed by a physician and taken

under medical supervision is not seen as compromising a person¡¯s recovery in NA.

Service Organization

The primary service provided by Narcotics

Anonymous is the NA group meeting. Each group

runs itself based on principles common to the

entire organization, which is expressed in NA¡¯s literature.

Most groups rent space for their meetings in

buildings run by public, religious, or civic organizations. Individual members lead the NA meetings

while other members participate by sharing about

their experiences in recovering from drug addiction.

Group members also work together to perform the

activities associated with running a meeting.

In a country where Narcotics Anonymous is a relatively new and emerging fellowship, the NA group

is the only level of organization. In places where a

number of Narcotics Anonymous groups have had

the chance to develop and stabilize, groups elect

representatives to form a local service committee.

These local committees usually offer a number of

services. Included among them are:

? distribution of NA literature;

? helpline information services;

? presentations for treatment and healthcare

staff, civic organizations, government agencies,

and schools;

? presentations to acquaint treatment or correctional facility clients with the NA program; and

? maintaining NA meeting directories for individual information and for any interested person.

In some countries, especially the larger countries or those where Narcotics Anonymous is well

established, a number of local/area committees

have come together to create regional committees.

These regional committees handle services within

their larger geographical boundaries while the local/area committees operate local services.

An international delegate assembly known as

the World Service Conference provides guidance

on issues affecting the entire organization. Primary

among the priorities of NA¡¯s world services are

activities that support emerging and developing

NA communities and the translation of Narcotics

Anonymous literature. For additional information,

contact the World Service Office headquarters in

Los Angeles, California. The mailing address, telephone number, fax number, and website address

appear at the end of this pamphlet.

Organizational Philosophy

In order to maintain its focus, Narcotics

Anonymous has established a tradition of nonendorsement and does not take positions on

anything outside its own specific sphere of activity.

Narcotics Anonymous does not express opinions¡ª

either pro or con¡ªon civil, social, medical, legal, or

religious issues. Additionally, it does not take stands

on addiction-related issues such as criminality, law

enforcement, drug legalization or penalties, prostitution, HIV/HCV infection, or syringe programs.

Narcotics Anonymous strives to be entirely

self-supporting through member contributions

and does not accept financial contributions from

non-members. Based on the same principle, groups

and service committees are administered by NA

members, for members.

Narcotics Anonymous neither endorses nor opposes any other organization¡¯s philosophy or methodology. NA¡¯s primary focus is in providing a recovery environment whereby drug addicts can share

their recovery experiences with one another. By

remaining free from the distraction of controversy,

NA is able to focus all of its energy on its particular

area of purpose.

Membership Demographics

To offer some general informal observations

about the nature of the membership, and the effectiveness of the program, the following observations

are believed to be reasonably accurate.

The socioeconomic strata represented by the NA

membership vary from country to country. Usually,

members of one particular social or economic class

start and sustain most developing NA communities

worldwide, but as their fellowship development

activities become more effective, the membership

becomes more broadly representative of all socioeconomic backgrounds.

All ethnic and religious backgrounds are represented among NA members. Once a developing

NA community reaches a certain level of maturity,

its membership generally reflects the diversity or

homogeneity of the background culture.

Membership in Narcotics Anonymous is voluntary; no attendance records are kept either for

NA¡¯s own purposes or for others. Because of this,

it is sometimes difficult to provide interested parties with comprehensive information about NA

Years Drug-Free

>20 Years

19%

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